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Adam's Curse / Yeats
Adam's Curse is a poem written by William Butler Yeats, originally included the poem in the volume, In the Seven Woods, published in 1903. Adam's Curse We sat together at one summer's end, That beautiful mild woman, your close friend, And you and I, and talked of poetry. I said, "A line will take us hours maybe; Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, Our stitching and unstitching has been naught. Better go down upon your marrow-bones And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather; For to articulate sweet sounds together Is to work harder than all these, and yet Be thought an idler by the noisy set Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen The martyrs call the world." And thereupon That beautiful mild woman for whose sake There's many a one shall find out all heartache On finding that her voice is sweet and low Replied, "To be born woman is to know -- Although they do not talk of it at school -- That we must labour to be beautiful." I said, "It's certain there is no fine thing Since Adam's fall but needs much labouring. There have been lovers who thought love should be So much compounded of high courtesy That they would sigh and quote with learned looks precedents out of beautiful old books; Yet now it seems an idle trade enough." We sat grown quiet at the name of love; We saw the last embers of daylight die, And in the trembling blue-green of the sky A moon, worn as if it had been a shell Washed by time's waters as they rose and fell About the stars and broke in days and years. I had a thought for no one's but your ears: That you were beautiful, and that I strove To love you in the old high way of love; That it had all seemed happy, and yet we'd grown As weary-hearted as that hollow moon. Overview "Adam's Curse" was written just before the marriage of Maud Gonne and John MacBride.Cullingham Yeats drew on a meeting with Maud Gonne and her sister Kathleen Pilcher.Ramazani, Jahan, Richard Ellmann, and Robert O'Clair. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. London: Norton, 2003. pp. 100 In the poem, Yeats describes the difficulty of creating something beautiful. The title alludes to the Genesis, evoking the fall of man and the separation of work and pleasure. Yeats Form Yeats’ poem is composed of 5 stanzas of heroic couplets (19 couplets in total). Ostensibly collaborating with one another, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stanzas are linked by an informal slant-rhyme scheme (e.g., “summer’s end | clergymen | thereupon;” “trade enough | name of love;” “yet we’d grown | hollow moon”). A quasi-sonnet appears with the 1st stanza, which is perhaps an allusion/homage to the “precedents out of beautiful old books” and the formalism of the eras preceding Yeats. Of its 14 lines, the first 13 are unbroken while the last is made of 3 iambic feet. These, in turn, are fulfilled through enjambment and bleed into the 1st line of the 2nd stanza (i.e. “The martyrs call the world. | And thereupon.”). The 2nd stanza shares its 1st line with the last of the 1st stanza and maintains a similar form of non-repeating couplets. Its final line lies roughly coupled with the 1st line of the 3rd stanza (i.e. the slant rhyme between “enough” and “love”). Concluding Yeats’ piece, the 3rd and final stanza differs from its predecessors in its length. Constructed from 11 lines (5 heroic couplets), the 3rd is significantly shorter than the others. Summary Yeats serves as arbiter for his profession, condemning the view that beauty in art (and, subsequently, everywhere else) comes not naturally, but with great mental ardor. Pitting himself with the "martyrs," the poet speaks through a victim's perspective and provides evidence to support his claim. Yeats' poem, though at times mock-serious, makes a subtle plea for greater understanding of the creative process and those that make it their "trade." See also *Other poems by Yeats *1903 in poetry References External links ;Poem *Full text of poem, with preface by Robert Pinsky ;Audio / video *Adam's Curse at YouTube Category:Poetry by W.B. Yeats Category:1903 poems Category:Text of poem Category:Irish poems Category:20th-century poems